As many of you remember, Bill and I took the kids to Wilderness Territory last year. (For those of you who don't know, Wilderness Territory is in Wisconsin Dells, WI. It consists of over 600 acres of land with a variety of lodging options and over 12 football fields of water fun. The grounds are also home to Wild Rock Golf Club, and a variety of outstanding dining options including Field’s at the Wilderness, Monk’s at the Wilderness and Sarento’s Italian Restaurant. Combined, these lodging options and waterparks make up America’s largest waterpark resort (aff) destination!) If you remember, it was not a tale that ended well. Madison clocked her chin on the bottom of one of their pools (after jumping out of a tube after doing down a slide) and ended up with a heavily bleeding cut and a chipped tooth (and no, we still haven't been able to fix that yet.) However, we came back because of how they handled and treated our situation. They really stepped it up and helped us out (and yes, I realize that is what they should have done. However, a lot of businesses don't step up and they got our repeat business, because they did.)

I highly recommend checking out the Wilderness Territory in the fall. We go from Thursday – Saturday on Veteran's Day weekend (my kids have school off then too so that helps!). It is very slow and there are no long lines to wait to go down any of the slides. My kids love that! It also makes it easier to keep an eye on them. When they start getting busy on Saturday, we get in the car and head home (or like we did this year, we headed over to Tommy Bartlett). Here is what our trip looked like:

They have three different waterparks here. First, there is the The Wild Water Dome. It opened at the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort (aff) in April 2006 and spans over 70,000-square-feet and features an energy-efficient Foil Tec roof which actually allows guests to tan indoors. This waterpark is also home to the nation’s largest indoor wave pool measuring 15,450-square-feet, a 2,200-square-foot zero depth play lagoon and the Dueling Mammoths family raft ride, a high-energy family tube ride that allows allows families to race against each other through twisting and turning tunnels to see who is the fastest. My kids aren't fans of this one because they don't like the wave pool at all. However, I see this as a popular choice for the older kids.

The Wild West Waterpark, which opened at the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort in February 2003, is a 70,000-square-foot indoor waterpark offering non-stop interaction. It features The Black Hole, an outrageously fun two-person tube slide with a 45 foot drop; and Ransack Ridge, a six-level, free-standing play feature with two body slides, a 750-gallon cart-tipping bucket that spills water every 3 minutes, water blasters, animated targets and various water jets. The park also features The Fantastic Voyage, a five-person raft ride that takes guests on an exciting journey through twisting and turning tunnel ways. When the ride is complete, a conveyor belt system returns the huge raft to the top of the ride so all you need to do is walk back to the beginning for more back fun! And, if that’s not enough, the Wild West Waterpark is also home 4 speed slides, an indoor/outdoor hot spa and bumper boats! This is my kids favorite water park!

Lastly, there is Klondike Kavern, which opened at the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort in 1999 and was renovated in 2009. It is a 65,000-square-foot indoor waterpark that offers the Midwest’s tallest family raft ride – the Hurricane. It is also home to a 400-foot relaxing lazy river which meanders throughout the entire waterpark as well as two, 500-foot waterslides that drop five-stories; a 180 foot body slide; Sulfur Springs, an indoor/outdoor hot spa; and Bonanza Bluff, a family-friendly play structure in the middle of the park. It includes 50 play and spray features, a 750-gallon
tipping bucket, a 14 foot body slide and two 4-foot side by side children’s slides.

Here is what the kids thought (I took these while we were in waterpark so it's a tad loud and I can't get the video to flip, so sorry about that too!):

If you live here in the Midwest, the Wilderness Territory is definitely worth checking out. We have yet to go in the summer (mainly because the prices go up considerably as does everything else in Wisconsin Dells), but in the off season, it definitely rocks.